In this presentation, I summarise the June 2012 Policy Statement by the Australian Government, on environmental information requirements, in 5 slides.

1. Australian Government Environmental
Information Requirements Statement…
An Australian Government working group has issued this
policy statement to help identify, share, deploy and
improve all of the environmental information collected by
Government.
DECEMBER 2013

2. WHAT DOES IT SAY.
The Statement identifies the kinds of
environmental information required and
collected by Government agencies to inform
government policy.
The areas of interest are biodiversity,
biosecurity, climate change, infrastructure and
communities, significant places, natural
resources, environmental reporting, waste and
pollutants, and water.
DECEMBER 2013

3. WHAT ELSE DOES IT SAY.
The Statement recognises that the problem of funding
long-term monitoring over shorter-term budget
cycles, and provides a stocktake that could be used to
protect funding cuts to critical information.
The comprehensive nature of the Statement gives the
impression of lots of information though, which could
be seen by some as less critical in the context of
diminished relative policy importance for the
environment.
DECEMBER 2013

4. WHAT ELSE DOES IT SAY.
The Statement is pretty silent on sharing
arrangements, so a separate policy position can also
be expected on this in the future.
The Statement is also silent on the quality and
quantity of each information need, which is of direct
interest to environmental accountants and auditors.
The Statement will be reviewed in 2014, which can
then incorporate changes in Government policy.
DECEMBER 2013

5. WHAT DOES IT MEAN.
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The Statement is a fantastic resource for
those wanting to know what environmental
information is collected by who, under what
powers.
It highlights the importance of BOM in the
new world of centralised environmental
information, but doesn’t explicitly state how
important environmental accountants will
be in collecting and reporting.
The comments on these slides are the views of Tim Kirby, Sydney.
You should always read the report itself before putting your reputation, or any money, on the line.
Tim Kirby, Sydney CA, CIA, LA-EMS
au.linkedin.com/in/timkirbysydney
DECEMBER 2013